


Undefined Thing

by Lannakitty



Series: More Issues Than National Geographic [3]
Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-08
Updated: 2010-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-05 23:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lannakitty/pseuds/Lannakitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing's really changed. Except everything feels like it has.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Undefined Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Ashley/Henry for groovekittie who wanted 24 hours after Communication. She wanted awkward cuddling. I have kinda-cuddling and I have awkward c.c; so I kinda win \o/ Wow this is totally turning into a series.

Ashley frowned at the target and carefully put her weapon down on the table. There was a neat cluster of holes over the heart of her target. Today she'd already practiced her katas and taolu, then she'd gone for a quick run on the paved path around the interior of the large courtyard before coming to the shooting range. All of it had been utterly routine and completely normal. So why did everything feel so…different?

Okay so she did feel a bit sore in a very nice way, and thinking about certain parts of the previous evening sent a thrill down her spine. She ducked her head and began to clean her weapon on autopilot. Nothing had changed but it had. She closed her eyes and wondered why everything seemed like a contradiction. Ashley finished cleaning the weapon and locked it back in the armory. She frowned at the closed metal door for a moment then wandered further into the house.

Ashley avoided her mother. The unsettled feeling wasn't going away and she knew her mother would take one look at her and know something was up and she wasn't sure she could resist her mother's interrogation right now. Her wandering took her in the direction of the alcove that served as Henry's base of operations.

Henry was bouncing around his area, easily avoiding trailing cords, stacks of computer parts, open cases and the ubiquitous boxes of cable that seemed to exist in every IT area Ashley had ever seen. She watched him move from his rack of monitors to the cleared work area where he had a soldering iron going. He made a few connections which sent an acrid, burning smell into the air. He switched off the tool then grabbed another piece of machinery and crouched beside one of the open cases. She watched his him work and felt heat on her cheeks as his talented hands quickly tapped commands into his systems. He stood up abruptly then turned around. The unsettled feeling increased tenfold as his face lit up with a smile.

"Hi," she offered as she stuffed her hands in her back pockets.

"Hi." Only now did he trip over one of the thicker cables. He caught himself and rubbed the back of his head as he kicked away the offending cable.

"First day with the new legs?" she smirked.

Henry crossed his arms with exaggerated casualness. "They gave me two left ones this time. Think I might return 'em."

Ashley chuckled but then the awkward silence returned. Ashley bit her lip then asked "What are you doing?"

"Uh," Henry looked around his workspace and his shoulders slumped slightly. "A little bit of everything? I've got a new tower upgrade for the lab there, and I have some new server blades coming in so I'm trying to clear some space in the central rack for those and I'm running a diagnostic on that machine and I'm defragging a couple hard drives."

"Defragging, huh?" she arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he smirked back, "I'm _fantastic_ at defragging."

"Two at once." She perched on the edge of one of his tables.

"What can I say, I'm a man of great talent," he leered back.

Ashley snickered and waved the conversation away with a hand. She looked around then said in a low voice, "ok we can't use that as some kind of double entendre."

"Not exactly subtle," he agreed. He was smiling and that dimple had reappeared and she kind of wanted to step forward and kiss it, but she stopped herself. Henry seemed to sense her hesitation and that horrible awkwardness reappeared.

Ashley bit her lip. "Do you wanna go kill some zombies?" she asked. "Unless you're busy?"

"No. I'd be up for some de-zombification."

They indulged in a few hours of Left 4 Dead on co-op then joined the rest of the household ordering takeout for dinner. They returned to the den with their cartons of takeout and colonized the couch, leaving the recliner to Laurence and the loveseat to Helen and Will. There were truly bad movies on the Scifi channel and Helen left as soon as she was done eating which was before the end of the first movie about a giant magical griffin. Will almost made it to the end of the credits of the following movie, but when King Tut busted out the metal wings and the flaming sword to defeat a very satanic looking set, he couldn't take anymore and fled the room looking for something more intelligent. Laurence made it through the opening monologue, but left when the jade tablet was introduced. The movie didn't get better, in fact it quickly evolved from being bad to being horrible to that strange place where it was so bad, it was hilarious.

"Why are we still watching this?" Henry asked as the group on the screen wandered their way through and incredibly inaccurate depiction of the Egyptian underworld.

"We're both sick individuals who lack good taste in movies?"

Henry pointed at the screen. "But this is epic! The movie jumped the shark in the opening voice over."

Ashley chuckled then groaned as King Tut and his fancy gold wings reappeared. "Dude, I saw the exhibit when it came through last year. If he had gold wings, the museum was holding out on us. Design is neat but I still wonder what these writers were smoking."

"Not the good stuff."

The movie finally ended at the credits rolled. Henry cracked his back and hit the info button on the remote. "Ohhhh. S.S Doomtrooper in next. Sunday must be What Has Science Wrought day."

"Sunday? What time is it?" Ashley looked around for the nearest clock.

"Just before two."

"Huh." She sat back on the couch as the movie started and noticed that the weird, unsettled feeling had returned. Its return made her aware that it hadn't been around for the past few hours. "Good afternoon," she commented, more to fill the silence between them than anything else.

"Yeah. Zombie killing, Chinese take out-"

"Should've ordered you the beef chow mien," Ashley interrupted.

"And horrible movies," Henry continued on with a dirty look out of the corner of his eye, "make for a good afternoon slash evening."

"Yeah," she agreed absently as something tickled the back of her mind. She bit her lip and watched Henry watch the TV.

Henry did a double take and smiled enough to show that kissable dimple again. "Ash? You okay?"

"Hang out time, dinner and a movie," she recounted." After a furtive look over the back of the couch she asked. "Did we just have a date?"

Henry's jaw dropped then he closed it and frowned. "Yes? That's okay right?" he kept his voice low.

Ashley nodded. "Yeah. So what's next?"

Henry shrugged. "Cuddling on the couch?" he offered.

"Okay," Ashley settled into his side but was very aware that someone could walk in at any moment.

"Hey, relax."

"Sorry."

Henry looked around then whispered into her ear, "know what else we could do?"

"Huh?"

"Make out on the couch." He kissed her temple and the fingers of one hand worked under the hem of her shirt. She felt a thrill shoot up her spine.

"Someone could walk in," she answered.

"Kinda fun, huh?"

She looked at him appreciatively. "Since when did you become such a daredevil?"

"Must be the company I keep," he commented before his lips descended to hers.

The danger was a turn on, but Henry's newfound bravado, part teasing, part flirty intensified the feeling. This was playing with fire, toeing the line and all sorts of other clichés. "Damn you for knowing me," she muttered between kisses. His replying chuckle was warm. She held his face with both hands and studied him for a moment, thumbs rubbing across his rough beard. "Think I'll keep you though." She smirked, "even if you're a bad puppy."

He smirked back, "Watch it or I'll chew your shoes."

She grinned and climbed out of his lap to stand then held out a hand. "I've thought of something else we can do. Or don't you sleep around on a first date?" she asked, voice dropping low enough for his ears only even though they were alone in the room. She lifted an eyebrow in question. Henry grabbed her hand and she hauled him to his feet. She leaned up and kissed the dimple that had been taunting her all day. "Gimmie ten minutes, okay?" Ashley turned and sauntered out of the room. The butterflies were gone.


End file.
